<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Of Fairy Lights and Sea Salted Chips by malecwrites</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23773045">Of Fairy Lights and Sea Salted Chips</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/malecwrites/pseuds/malecwrites'>malecwrites</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Birthday, Birthday Date, Cliche but I love it anyway, Cute, Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Picnics, Sweet, Will ruining Nico’s emo aesthetic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:42:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,493</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23773045</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/malecwrites/pseuds/malecwrites</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Will takes Nico on a date for his birthday. </p><p>AKA. Will plans a picnic and then it rains.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nico di Angelo &amp; Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Of Fairy Lights and Sea Salted Chips</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Staring at his collection of clothes on the bed, Nico realised that he had allowed a variety of colour to creep into his closet. Most garish of all were the pastel pink sweater and loud yellow shirt, and though he would never admit to it, he used them to lounge around his cabin. If anyone saw him they would never believe their eyes.</p><p>It was all Solace’s fault. That boy with his stupid golden curls and shining smile. He was ruining the emo boy persona. Nico loved it. Every time Will was in his cabin, Nico secretly hoped that he would leave another item of clothing. Something that held a stronger scent of honey and lemon, the smell of his boyfriend.</p><p>Disregarding the rainbow array set out in front of him, Nico opted for his usual favourite black top, leather jacket and jeans. He liked to pretend he was a tough guy but in all honesty, dark clothes were his comfort zone because they let him fade into backgrounds when necessary.</p><p>“Hey.” A quiet voice called to him, making his head snap round in surprise.</p><p>“I didn’t hear you knock, Will. It’s rude to walk in on people.” Nico feigned a glare in the direction of the other. For a moment Wills expression faltered, until he saw the way Nico’s eyes danced in amusement.</p><p>“I did knock stupid,” Will skipped closer to Nico and took his hand. “C’mon, let’s go!”</p><p>“Hmm, not going anywhere till you tell me where.”</p><p>“No can do Nic, it’s your birthday surprise.” Will spun towards the exit and tried to drag Nico along with him. Smirking, Nico resisted. Using his strength to an advantage, he turned Will back around to face him. “You’re annoying.” Will mumbled, letting himself fall into the kiss that followed.</p><p>It was a sweet and short kiss. Yet Nico’s legs felt like jelly and he almost wanted to forget the date so he could stay like this with Will forever. But, he knew that his boyfriend had spent a seriously unhealthy amount of time planning said surprise and that Will’s hard work should never go unappreciated. Nico wondered what he did to deserve such a wonderful partner. When Nico felt his arm being pulled for the second time, he didn’t protest. Instead he held back a grin and enabled William Solace to take the lead.</p>
<hr/><p>Will had been practically sprinting since exiting the child of Hades’ cabin and it took them less than five minutes to reach their destination. Nico nearly stumbled into his boyfriend as they halted to a standstill. He had been too focused on a certain person’s behind to keep track of the route they had been taking, so when he looked up his jaw practically hit the ground.</p><p>They were at the lake. For starters, there were fairy lights everywhere - looping around the trees overhead to create a golden glow through the gloominess of the night. The second thing was that there, in the centre of the lit up space, lay a red and white checked picnic blanket. A hamper was balanced unsteadily on a corner of it, filled to the brim with - from as far as Nico could see - his favourite foods. Will had chosen a spot near where an annual campfire took place and had clearly been granted permission to have the fire burning tonight, which was ideal, as it was the middle of January and the air was chilly.</p><p>“So, what’d ya think?” Nico could hear the anticipation in Will’s voice, could feel the intense stare that was trying to gauge the reaction. He must’ve taken too long to think of an answer because Will started to ramble, like he always did when he was nervous. It was adorable.</p><p>“Leo was watching the fire till we got here to make sure it stayed under control,” Will scratched the back of his neck. “I know you said that you didn’t want anyone else with us and I remember you saying you didn’t like a fuss… and that you hate parties and presents,” Nico lightly hummed his agreement, still struggling with words as the other boy continued, “…but if I got it wrong we can totally invite the others. I told them to stay away, should I run back to get them?”</p><p>“Will?”</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>“Shut up.” Looking at his boyfriend under the warm shimmer of light, he smiled. “It’s perfect. This is perfect and you, you’re perfect. Thank you.”</p><p>Nico could almost see the joy that radiated from his right-hand side at the words, Will seemed to shine brighter than any of the lights. He’d meant what he had said too. He could not believe that somebody had gone to all this effort, just to celebrate his lousy birthday. He initiated another kiss, trying to convey all of his feelings to Will through it.</p><p>Will broke off after a minute. “I’m hungry, let’s eat. I baked you a birthday cake, you know, and I iced it too!” He jumped over to the picnic blanket and plonked himself in the middle of it, grabbing plates that had seemingly materialised from nowhere.</p><p>Nico followed suit, enjoying the way the heat from the fire hit his face. He helped himself to bread and olives from inside the wicker basket. Will knew him scarily well as all his favoured snacks were there. Even the brand of chips that Will had always complained at him for eating. According to William their expense was not worth the flavour (sea salt), but Nico always retorted with something along the lines of: ‘<em>They’re the elite chip Solace, you have no taste’</em>.</p><p>They spent a considerable amount of time chatting and eating and stealing kisses at their leisure before Nico became impatient and asked for dessert. Will shot up from his spot on the blanket and galloped behind the nearest tree, leaving Nico for long enough that he began to wonder what on earth was happening. He waited for what felt like a century until the face he had been searching for popped back out.</p><p>“Happy Birthday to you,” <em>Oh Gods,</em> Will was singing! His voice wasn’t half bad, but he definitely wasn’t in tune either. Nico started to blush as Will stepped closer and closer with the cake, five candles stuck wonkily in its icing. Nico giggled to himself, definitely not the smartest plan to light a match close to an old oak tree - typical Will, smart as anything but lacked a decent amount of common sense.</p><p> “Ta Da!” Will exclaimed after Nico had blown out all the candles. The cake was decorated with wobbly letters that spelt out <em>Happy Birthday Nic</em> and then their initials surrounded by a heart. Childishly executed, but endearing as hell. The fact that Will had even made a cake was so sweet (pun intended) to Nico, because if he was being honest, the son of Apollo was useless in a kitchen… And it tasted like a cake should, which was an added bonus!</p><p>Neither one of them wanted the date to end. The weather however, had other ideas. The heavens opened and Will grumbled something that sounded very much to Nico like it rhymed with <em>clucking sods.</em></p><p>“Be careful, love, wouldn’t want you to get cursed on my birthday.” For a second Nico thought he heard the rumbling of laughter in the sky, but it turned out to be a roll of thunder. The rain started falling faster, Nico got to his feet as Will searched around frantically.</p><p>“What’ve you lost?” Nico asked quizzically.</p><p>“I’ve forgotten the pissing umbrellas!” Will replied.</p><p>“Language, Solace.” Nico fake reprimanded as he shook his head in disbelief at the blonde. Only Will would remember umbrellas at all, it hadn’t even crossed the younger boy’s mind. Even now, as Nico stood basking in the freshness of the rain, Will had been busy switching off all of the fairy lights. That boy was always one step ahead in the mundane parts of the planning department, <em>it’s a pity he forgets about the hazards</em>. Just as well that he had remembered though because they were both starting to get soaked through to the skin. With a glance towards the campfire Nico realised that the downpour had already been heavy enough to extinguish it.</p><p>As much as Nico loved the rain, regarding his dishevelled partner confirmed that the other boy was going to catch a chill if they stayed any longer. Sighing and giving one last longing look to the beautiful setting that had been their romantic dinner, he made his decision. Vowing to collect the rest of the picnic items in the morning, Nico picked up the remnants of the cake and lunged for Will’s already outstretched hand. Together, splashing puddles playfully at each other on the way, they raced back to the shelter of his cabin.</p><p>And later, when Will began to apologise for the weather ‘ruining their night’, Nico chuckled and said simply, “It was perfect.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>